- Church of Israel
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The Church of Israel (formerly the Church of Our Christian Heritage) is a denomination that emerged from the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) in the Latter Day Saint movement[1] and is now affiliated with the Christian Identity movement, a charge which its leader, Dan Gayman, denies.
The Church of Israel was first organized in 1972. Gayman had deposed the leaders of the Church of Christ at Zion's Retreat and been elected leader of that church. However, the deposed leaders of the Zion's Retreat church sued Gayman, and the courts ordered that the church property and name be returned to the deposed leaders. Most of the members of the church followed Gayman, and he informally organized under the name the Church of Our Christian Heritage. In 1981, Gayman incorporated the church under the name Church of Israel. Little of the Latter Day Saint background of the church remains in its current teachings and practices.[1]
An investigative newspaper report about the Church of Israel was published in the Joplin Globe in January 2001.[2] The report was mostly negative and suggested that the church had ties to the Christian Identity movement. The Jewish Anti-Defamation League includes the Church of Israel in its list of "extremist groups."[3] The ADL report states that members of the church are said to have been involved at times with controversial figures such as Bo Gritz, Eric Rudolph, and a national leader in the Ku Klux Klan.[3]
A 2003 falling-out between Gayman and two other leaders of the church[4] led to the creation of a website that opposes Gayman and his leadership of the Church of Israel.[5]
See also
- Factional breakdown: Followers of Granville Hedrick
References
- ^ a b J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedia of American Religions (Detroit: Gale, ISBN 0810377144) p. 540.
- ^ Max McCoy, "Separatist by faith: Church of Israel's patriarch rebuts claims of racism", Joplin Globe, January 28, 2001.
- ^ a b Extremism in America: Dan Gayman, adl.org, accessed 2009-03-10.
- ^ Debbie Woodin, ""Judge denies Church of Israel loses suit", Joplin Globe, 2003-05-01.
- ^ gaymangate.com.
Further reading
- Swain, Carol M.; Russ Nieli (2003-03-24). Contemporary Voices of White Nationalism in America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521816734.
External links
Sects in the Latter Day Saint movement
Hedrickite sectsChurch of Christ
Organized by: Joseph Smith, Jr.
Joseph Smith's original
organization; multiple sects currently
claim to be true successor1
8
6
3Church of Christ (Temple Lot)
Organized by: Granville Hedrick
2,400 members1851 1850s
[note 1]1929 1932
[note 2]1946 Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints
(Gladdenite)
Organized by: Gladden Bishop
Defunct, Dissolved after
Bishop's death in 18651864
DissolvedChurch of Christ
(Fettingite)
Organized by: Otto Fetting
Sect divided into various factionsChurch of Christ
at Halley's Bluff
Organized by: Thomas B. Nerren
and E. E. Long
less than 100 membersChurch of Christ (Hancock)
Organized by: Pauline Hancock
Defunct as of 1984ca. 1937 1943 1972 Church of Christ (Restored)
Organized by: A. C. DeWolf
approx. 450 membersChurch of Christ
"With the Elijah Message"
Organized by: Otto Fetting and
William Draves
approx. 12,500 membersChurch of Israel
Organized by:Dan Gayman1965 2004 Church of Christ
(Leighton-Floyd/Burt)
Organized by: Howard Leighton-Floyd
and H. H. Burt
approx. 35 membersChurch of Christ with
the Elijah Message
(The Assured Way
of the Lord)
Organized by:Leonard Draves- ^ While not considered a predecessor to the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), in the 1850s, many of the followers of Gladden Bishop (Gladdenites) abandoned him and joined the movement that would later become the Church of Christ (Temple Lot).
- ^ While not considered a schism of the Church of Christ (Fettingite) and it's founder Otto Fetting, the Church of Christ at Halley's Bluff accepted Fetting's revelations, but it did not immediately break with the Fettingites in 1929. Nerren and Long instead formed a separate sect in 1932, which was later joined by five other former Temple Lot congregations by 1941.
Categories:- Christian denominations, unions, and movements established in the 20th century
- Christian Identity
- Christian new religious movements
- Hedrickite sects in the Latter Day Saint movement
- Latter Day Saint movement in Missouri
- Mormonism and race
- Organizations based in Missouri
- Religious organizations established in 1972
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